This 1997 Mercedes-Benz SL500 was sold and registered to the first owner in Illinois where it remained until moving to California in 2016. It shows 32k original miles and was acquired by the seller in 2020. Finished in Imperial Red (582) over Beige Leather (265), power is provided by a 5.0-liter M119 DOHC V8 mated to a five-speed automatic transmission driving the rear wheels. Factory equipment includes a removable hardtop in Imperial Red (582), a black power soft top, Xenon headlamps, remote central locking, heated seats, automatic climate control and a Bose stereo with a CD changer. The included Carfax report shows three owners from new and some service records. The seller notes the following services to have been performed under their care: new front top hydraulics, a new battery, regular annual oil services, and new tires. This SL500 is now offered by the current owner and seller with two remote keys, the original manufacturer’s literature, the original window sticker, a hardtop hoist, an OEM wind deflector, the original 16" wheels, a clean Carfax report, and a clean California title.
The exterior is finished in it's original Imperial Red (582) paint with matching lower body cladding and a paint-matched removable hardtop. Exterior features include a power folding Black soft top, Xenon HID headlamps, front and rear fog lamps, heated and power-adjustable door mirrors and remote central locking. The owner reports the soft top to be original to the car and displays well with a clear rear window and no snags or tears. The included Carfax report shows a clean history free from accidents or damage and the nose of the car shows light rock chips. Detailed photos of the exterior can be found in the gallery along with a thorough video. The rear window of the soft top is noted by the seller to be original and clear.
Authentic staggered 18” AMG Style I Monoblock wheels are mounted and wear Continental ExtremeContact tires measuring 245/40 and 255/35 front to rear. Additional standard equipment includes ASR slip control and ESP stability control. A full-size spare is located in the trunk and factory tools accompany the car along with a set of the original 16" wheels that originally came on the car.
The cabin is upholstered in Beige Leather (265) with a contrasting upper dashboard and Burl Walnut wood trim which lines the center console, gear selector, steering wheel and door panels. Both seats are heated with 10-way power adjustability and three-position memory. Additional interior amenities include a power tilt/telescope steering column, automatic climate control, cruise control, a pop-up roll bar, a 6-speaker Bose audio system, a trunk-mounted 6-disc CD changer, and an original Becker head unit.
A leather-wrapped steering wheel fronts analog instrumentation consisting of a 160-mph speedometer, a 7k-rpm tachometer, an analog clock and gauges for fuel level, fuel economy, coolant temperature and oil pressure. The digital odometer currently shows 32k miles from new.
This R129 roadster is powered by a 5.0-liter M119 DOHC V8 engine which is rated for 315 horsepower and 347 lb-ft of torque. Power is sent to the rear wheels through a five-speed automatic transmission. The seller notes the following services to have been performed under their care: new front top hydraulics, a new battery, regular annual oil services, and new Continental tires.
The Carfax report shows three owners from new along with linear mileage updates and a clean history. This SL500 is now offered by the current owner and seller with two remote keys, the original manufacturer’s literature, the original window sticker, a hardtop hoist, an OEM wind deflector, a clean Carfax report, and a clean California title.
The seller has included the following videos:
The R129 is quickly growing in popularity in the classic car market as the next SL to own. As the focus has now turned to some of the 90's Sacco-era designs, enthusiasts and collectors are on the hunt for clean R129s. Specifically, those produced in this narrow window when the M119 V8 was mated to the 5-speed auto continue to keep our attention for their more punchy engine and interstate drivability. Moreover though this car perfectly blends the early 129 with the late considering it shows Xenon headlamps and Imperial Red paint (which altogether is a rather rare build). In combination with a clean history and low mileage, this R129 is sure to provide great value and fun to a collector looking for a taste of the 90s.
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Enclosed Transit:
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43 Comments
@MIMAVA congratulations on a great car at an incredibly low price. My loss is your gain and I know you will love this car for many years to come, as I have.Hi everyone. I was able to get online on my flight. The car has now reached the reserve, so it WILL SELL TODAY! It is still at a bargain basement price for this beautiful car and whoever snags it will be very happy. Thanks for all the great comments and questions. Happy bidding and good luck!@Jj123vw I can happily assist with getting it picked up and loaded onto a transporter of your choosing, but you would need to responsible for the transport and logistics, customs etc. but there are many companies that do this all day.Can you ship to the UK and if so cost ?Sorry to ask Patrick, why are u selling the car??@MIMAVA Hi, yes. One of the last photos shows a log of all the services that the previous owner or I did, or had done. There are not that many factory services because of the very low mileage.Hi According to the Carfax report the las service was done 2017, do you know really when was the last time and what the did to it?$19,999 bid placed by @MIMAVA
$19,263 bid placed by @OgoKnight
Beautiful SL. Good luck.Good morning everyone. Only 5hrs left in this auction. This is truly a beautiful, untouched SL500 with low miles and soft, supple leather seats. There are not many left in this condition. Bids close around 4:20PM ET / 1:20PM PT. I will be on a plane at that time so if you have any last questions to make you comfortable with how truly nice this car is, please ask them now and I will answer as quickly and as well as I can. Hopefully one of you gets to enjoy this Benz as much as I have. Happy bidding! Patrick$19,013 bid placed by @MIMAVA
$17,000 bid placed by @jrviktora1985
Thanks for your quick reply ,Safe travels@jrviktora1985 I apologize that I don't seem to have posted the window sticker. The timing of the auction unfortunately happened while I am traveling this week so I can’t get access to it to post. But it does show the initial price as $109,000 if I recall correctly! These cars really are still incredible value for money given their luxury and features, but well cared for ones are on the rise.@jrviktora1985 photo 40 shows the roll bar up. The video shows the roll bar being manually raised and lowered. Since the automatic deployment only triggers when the car rolls over, I decided not to video that! There are no check engine lights. You can see all dash lights in the photos and on the comments below I posted a YouTube link to a cold start video where you will see the dashboard lights after starting.$16,750 bid placed by @MIMAVA
$16,500 bid placed by @jrviktora1985
Is it possible to post the build sheet or window sticker Thanksam l missing something ,l don’t see the emergency roll bar up ,does the system work properly .l believe it can be raised manually or independently . Do you have any pictures showing its operation ,Also any check engine lights or faults@MIMAVA Sorry. Missed the question. The date code of that spare tire is the same as the car. 1997!@MIMAVA Hi. The 4x original factory rims that you see in the photos do not have tires. The spare wheel in the trunk (that you also see in the photos) has the factory original tire, still with the factory wax and chalk tread markings on it. This is because I value highly factory-original cars. I’d suggest adding a basic cheap / used tire to one of the empty rims and using that day-to-day as the spare if you wanted to retain the original spare tire, say for concours events.CAN YOU TELL ME PATRICK THOSE PIRELLI P6000 TIRES THAT CAME WITH THE ORIGINAL RIMS THE YEAR OF MANUFACTURE? DO YOU HAVE 2 OR THE SET OF 4?$16,013 bid placed by @MIMAVA
That is $1.25 per mile !Shipping costs have gone up aprox $1.25 for an enclosed trailer I wouldn’t take a chance with an open trailer especially this time of year hale damage would destroy this car!$15,400 bid placed by @jrviktora1985
$15,013 bid placed by @MIMAVA
@MIMAVA yes, the original wind deflector is still in the trunk. There is a photo of it in the included photo set. When I bought the car I fitted it to test that it worked, but I have never used it and to me it looks like the previous owner never used it either. It is like new.@MIMAVA I’d say 100% left. They’ve done only a handful of miles since new.PATRICK DO U HAVE ANY MEASUREMENT OF THE TIRES % OF LIFE LEFT? AN ESTIMATE?DO YOU HAVE THE ORIGINAL WIND DEFLECTOR?@MIMAVA Yes. The factory wheels are included, as is the German-made Motorform lift setup. I have a motorized winch on my garage ceiling and that is not included. But you can get a simple hand pulley to do the same thing. Makes removing and installing the hard top a quick one person task.Hi About those extra rims in the pictures and the the hard top lift included? Regards$14,500 bid placed by @jrviktora1985
@CabbageSmacker yes, that is the some chip in the photo that I’m taking about.Thank you for the response. Yes, I saw the comment about the stone chip. I’m referring to what appears to be a chunk missing from the mirror above the stone chip. Is there a missing piece of plastic on the mirror or not? Thank you@CabbageSmacker please see the comment below about the mirror and the exceptional original paint quality. Yes the photos were taken to try and show every small detail, including that the hardtop has a scratch on top and a few on the black chrome. This is fairly common with Mercedes hard tops, as they are more often stored in garages while the cars enjoy open top motoring!Is the driver side mirror missing a chunk out of it and does the hard top have a scratch along the top of it? Thank youThank you for clear that!!$14,250 bid placed by @MIMAVA
@MIMAVA the paint is as perfect and original as any R129 I’ve ever seen. It is incredibly deep and lustrous. There have been no accidents or repairs. In the photos I do specifically point out a.) a small scuff on the front drivers side bumper that I made when I first owned the car. It is barely noticeable and I am a stickler for factory paint and b.) a stone chip on the drivers side mirror from the previous owner that he got on a desert highway trip. He used touch up paint but since it’s a small part, it would be easy to remove and repaint if it really bugs you.Hi thanks for your quick response I see some photos that the paint is in bad condition, mostly when that hand shows up, can you please clarify that for me? Also has the car being repainted of the panels, hood or trunk? Regards@MIMAVA yes A/C works well and is cold and quiet. Soft top also, you can see the video posted here and note the Top Hydraulics replacement cylinders. I’ll be happy to assist with loading on the shipper of your choice. You can get quotes from UShip and others, they might be in the $1,000-$1,500 range from my zip in 92037. Ultimately I would take a vehicle any day that had spent most of it’s life garaged and driven in warm, dry San Diego!Hi Is the A/C working properly? How about the Hydraulic Soft Top? Any repaints in any panel or trunk or hood? How much will be the shipping cost from where the car is to NJ, 07631? A real one not rhe crazy quotes!!! Good Luck!!!$14,000 bid placed by @txmblover
$12,250 bid placed by @OgoKnight
$12,000 bid placed by @Ishcap
@1987GBody Here is a cold start video I just took: https://youtu.be/ywKAvqtnkYo@subside that is correct. The front ones functioned perfectly but had a small amount of seepage when inspected, so I replaced them. The others look as dry as when I bought it. During the PPI at that time the Mercedes independent I use checked them as well as the pump / reservoir (he owns an R129 himself) and the fluid level hasn’t changed in my whole ownership. The only time I added a small amount of Febi ZH-M was when I replaced the front cylinders.@1987GBody I could post a cold start so you can tell that it starts nicely from cold if that would help.So not all of the roof hydraulics were replaced? Just the two above the windshield?This is a gorgeous example. Will you be posting any cold start, idle, or driving videos?@grigor85 these are genuine AMG wheels (and new Continental tires), but they were not part of the original spec. The PO also added the factory style halogen light upgrade and Akebono brakes to reduce dust. Other than that it is as it left the factory.Does it have Amg sport package?$7,250 bid placed by @rafaelaaribeiro
$7,000 bid placed by @Kfuller
$5,000 bid placed by @Athenee
If you were patient enough to wait for the nicest I'd say you achieved your goal. Impressive to see the leather as nice as it is. RARE to see Imperial used this late in the 129's lifespan. Good luck with the auction, it appears to be a wonderful SL>Hi everyone. Up for auction is my beautiful all-original SL500. I searched for 2 years to find this car and it's by far the nicest I've ever seen. Just a total time capsule with original paint and incredibly clean interior. It's been extremely well maintained over it's life, including the last 6 years under my stewardship. I look forward to answering your questions. Happy bidding.